American Idol: Top 3 revealed

(S07E38) Tonight, Maroon 5 joins in the fun as we narrow down the remaining finalists to the Top 3. Where did Brooke's voting constituents go? If they went to Jason Castro then maybe he can pull of a huge upset and supplant a David or Syesha. If they went Syesha's way, it may be the end of the road for Jason Castro. If they all swung my way, who knows what will happen because Ryan forgot to give out my numbers ... again! Chime in through the show and critique the amazing Ford commercials, sound off on the amazing live viewer call-in feature (*cough*crap*cough*) and let us know who you think is going home.

You can join the chat by following this link. Look for the full episode review right here later tonight.

How many different ways can they line up the contestants on the stage so the camera can pan along them while Ryan introduces the show? Tonight's back-to-front formation was new. Stupid, but new. Last night the contestants scored nearly 51 million votes. The Top three had less than one million votes between them which means Castro was in trouble before it all began. Well, probably.

Top 4 - "Reelin' in the Years," Steely Dan
Well, David Archuleta wasn't ready for it to begin though and had to play quick catch-up. Throughout you could tell that the song wasn't really in the style that Syesha or Archuleta were comfortable with as they were constantly outperformed by the other pair. And what was up with that David Archuleta introduction of Paul Jackson, Jr. (thanks LN for the correction) on guitar solo. Jackson came out through the split wall at the back of the stage like he was a surprise guest star. Don't get me wrong, he's great and an important part of the show but you could tell the audience was all "Ooh, Ooh, who's it gonna be?" and then, "Oh, it's just that dude." Do we need to talk about the choreography? Isn't So You Think You Can Dance a sister show to this one? There's some great choreographers over there. Go grab one!

Idols in Vegas
The Final Four got to fly to Vegas to see Cirque du Soleil's Love, inspired by the work of The Beatles, and were met with a Beatles style reception of screaming fans and craziness. It looks like the kids had fun, but as usual I'd rather spend time getting to know the kids personalities rather than promoting something. But that seems to be all Idol is anymore.

Ford Commercial - "Ring of Fire"
What an incredibly corny commercial, though the Idols looked crazy-funny dressed as matadors. Otherwise, I don't get the connection between the song and bullfighting. Man, did that not work.

Dear God They're Still Taking Live Calls
Emily called saying that the Idol tour would be in her hometown of Pittsburgh on July 29th. She then asked if David Cook would like to go out on a date with her that night. Way to put him on the spot. Ryan put her on hold to get her number for him. Fourteen-year old Sarah asked all four contestants what the biggest challenge is they've had to overcome. Syesha's answer was stage fright. David Archuleta didn't have an answer (insert jokes about no one giving him one now). Jason didn't have one either.

David Cook didn't get a chance to answer before we moved on to Allison who wanted to know why Simon hadn't been knighted yet. I think this is a fair question as they seem to knight just about anyone over there anymore. Mara then wanted to know how Syesha feels being the last girl standing. Syesha said she was proud but was made uncomfortable. I wonder what those "funny" guys did? Teresa asked if they've ever gotten feedback from the artists whose songs they cover on the show. David Cook chatted up Our Lady Peace, who appreciated his doing the song. Finally, Marla who'd clearly been drinking, thought Simon Cowell could be the next James Bond.

Maroon 5, "If I Never See Your Face Again"
It's great that artists get a chance to perform, but I think these hour-long results shows are hurting the Idol franchise. We can handle a little dragging here and there but really we come to these episodes to find out who's going home. The rest of it tends to be more of an irritant and you don't want to irritate viewers. Hopefully in a non-strike year (next year) they'll go back to half hour results.

All of that isn't a knock on Maroon 5 who did a great job. I'm not familiar with the song they performed, but am a big fan of Maroon 5, primarily because I loved Bugs Bunny growing up so I'm naturally partial to their band name. Afterward when they interviewed Adam Levine he proved that most artists really have no idea where they're going on tour or when; that's what managers are for.

Bo Bice, "Witness"
I'm going to go ahead and take full, and probably undeserved, credit for Bo appearing on the Idol stage. In my interview with Bo Bice I asked if he would be performing back on the show this year and he responded: "I would love to perform on that Idol stage but that's really up to American Idol. I don't really go and ask them a lot for stuff. They've done so much for me and my career already; I wouldn't have the career I do without them. Maybe some people should call up Idol and tell them they want to see old Bo Bice play on stage and they might let me."

I guess someone did, which I think is great. Bo is an amazing southern rocker who really suffered from overproduction and mishandling of his first CD. His latest effort is much truer to who he is as an artist. The performance tonight was solid, though the song isn't as much a vocal showcase as typical Idol fare. It felt just like a classic southern rock jam, though, so good for him. Would it have killed him to give me a shout-out, though?

Going Home Tonight
Next week are the trips home. No Bottom Two or Three or any of that. You're either in or you're out this week. So, we'll start with David Archuleta who of course is safe. Anticlimactic wasn't it when he was sent to the couch. Let's see. then we had Ryan tell us to look at pictures of last year's trips home which were nowhere to be found. Then when they flashed on the screen he said to take a look backstage. Ah, live television. Why do we have so few live shows to enjoy the screw-ups on?

Continuing the push toward convincing us a David-David finale is as inevitable as death and taxes, David Cook was the next through the door and over to the couch. No Chris Daughtry-like eliminations tonight. That left only Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro who came out together to lead us into a break. Again, Ryan never declared the Bottom Two, so it's possible that a David got the second lowest number of votes. This way, though, you create more drama as both are more believable contenders for getting cut.

Well, Jason took Simon's advice and packed his bags, anticipating the end of his American Idol journey, and the voting at home followed suit. Tonight we say goodbye to the dreadlocked folk singer. He admitted earlier that two songs a week was a real challenge and he was really stressing three for next week. He was happy and clearly ready to end this chapter of his life and see what the future brings.

My Picks
Can I get triple credit for right picks now? I mean, I was right in that Jason was going home but really it was a 50/50 shot I guess. Still, I'm only at 9-12 now.

Your Picks
I gave up catching up with you a long time ago and if we keep agreeing like this, it'll never happen. You picked Jason as well raising your season total to 13-8.

Next Week's Theme: I have no idea, but they're singing three songs each.